John Wimber on No-hype
Hype is human generated emotion. The world uses it to stir people up at political rallies and sports events. But it has no place in the church. In the church we are to be moved by the Holy Spirit. Emotion is welcome, but it must be because of God, not man.
Church leaders often use hype to generate a ‘faith’ atmosphere. But faith and hype-generated-emotion are two different things. Hype involves the manipulation of people, and sometimes is an attempt to manipulate God. Hype is often used in worship leading, preaching, on posters, and websites.
John Wimber told his pastors, “Ruthlessly assert the Vineyard value of ‘no hype’ in all communications. Avoid pumping people up for the ‘new thing’ God is doing. Understatement is a key Vineyard value that I pray will flourish for many years.”
Though John had a very successful healing ministry, he said, “During the time of prayer for healing I encourage people to ‘dial down.’ That is, to relax and resist becoming emotionally worked up. Stirred up emotions rarely aid the healing process, and usually impede learning about how to pray for the sick. So I try to create an atmosphere that is clinical and rational … while at the same time powerful and spiritually sensitive.”